Masks Optional in School, Mandatory on Buses ‘At this Juncture’ for Upcoming North Penn School Year

Tony Di Domizio•

Take the bus, wear a mask in September.

As long as COVID-19 incidence rates remain under 20 per 100,000, and the positivity rate remains under 5 percent, North Penn School District students in all grade levels will have a mask-optional school year come September. However, masks will be mandatory on school buses, by order of the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

The North Penn School Board unanimously voted for a 2021-22 Health and Safety Plan and Emergency Instructional Timeline Template Thursday night, which, at this moment, calls for optional mask wearing in primary and secondary schools and required mask wearing on public school buses. The plans also layout the guidance that would make the board mandate masks again.

“Regarding the wearing of masks, at this juncture, we are saying masks are optional, with the exception of any applicable federal orders,” said district Superintendent Dr. Curt Dietrich during the meeting. “We did get notice from the Pennsylvania Department of Education that, despite the fact that Governor Wolf had lifted the mandatory masking, that there is action of an applicable federal order regarding transportation, and that Pennsylvania Department of Education interprets public school buses as public transportation.”

“Therefore,” he said, “we were to notify our community that masks are required on school buses per the federal order. As long as that’s enforced, we will enforce that.”

Dietrich said North Penn School District will use guidance from the Montgomery County Office of Public Health, the state Department of Education, the state Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control regarding face coverings.

“Masks in school buildings will also be optional for elementary students at the beginning of the school year,” he said. “This conversation will continue to be guided by the recommendations of local health officials based upon the data in our particular area and vaccine availability and eligibility.”

Reading from the safety plan, Dietrich said the district does reserve the right to universally require masks if the incidence or positivity rates rise in the community or schools.

Mask requirements could also vary from school to school.

As far as quarantining for vaccinated individuals versus unvaccinated, Dietrich said the county health department regulated that those who are vaccinated are exempt from mandatory quarantining. The district could also have the opportunity to use rapid tests that were not as available last year.

“If that changes, we will take guidance from the Montgomery County Office of Public Health. We’ll see what happens in the future,” he said. “Perhaps rapid testing can be used in place of mandatory quarantining.”

Following the meeting, North Penn sent out the following information to families:

Dear North Penn Families,
Last night, the NPSD Board of School Directors approved a Health & Safety Plan for the 2021-2022 school year which can be found here. All NPSD families are asked to review the plan to better understand how our schools intend to operate in the upcoming school year. All families must then complete the survey found in Infinite Campus (information below on how to do this) indicating if your child/ren will attend in person or virtually in the upcoming school year.
Available instructional models will be:

In-person instruction five days a week in kindergarten through post 12.
Virtual instruction five days a week as follows:

In Kindergarten through 6th grades, students will receive live-streamed instruction from a dedicated NPSD teacher. Students will be grouped by the same grade level, but would be in class with students from any of our 13 elementary schools. Students who decide to return to in-person instruction will join the class assigned to them in their home school which will be communicated this summer when all class assignments are announced.
In 7th through post 12th grades, students desiring virtual instruction will be enrolled in the North Penn Virtual Academy (NPVA). These classes are asynchronous. Secondary students who desire to return to in-person instruction at some point during the school year will need an academic schedule built for them at that time.
In the elementary schools, parents may commit to the virtual option for the entire year or for the first trimester with an opportunity to re-evaluate at that time.

Operational plans for the 2021-2022 school year include:

Following federal, state and local guidance, masks will be optional at all grade levels for students and staff. If at any point in time, COVID-19 rates increase within our community per the Health & Safety Plan, the school board may reinstitute the mask requirement. Masks will still be required on school busses unless the federal mandate changes.
Social distancing will take place when possible but desks likely will not be spaced 6 feet apart. Lunch will return to normal operation.
Cleaning of our facilities, proper ventilation, as well as encouraging hand washing and proper hygiene will continue to be stressed.
Seating charts will be maintained in classrooms, lunchrooms and on buses to support contact tracing in collaboration with the Montgomery County Office of Public Health (MCOPH). NPSD will continue to follow quarantine and isolation guidelines in accordance with MCOPH mandates and guidelines. In the event that a student is ordered to quarantine by the district or local health officials, classroom teachers will utilize the streaming technology in the classroom so that the student can listen to instruction throughout the day.

To select the instructional model for each child in your family, parents must respond to the survey through the parent portal in Infinite Campus. All Guardian 1 and Guardian 2s will have access to the survey. Please coordinate with your household and only have one person fill out the form for each child. Because we are using our student information system, you will not need to add any demographic information to identify your response for each child. DIRECTIONS as to how to fill out the form can be found in this document.
If you do not have an Infinite Campus portal account, you should have received an email on Monday, July 12, 2021, explaining how to create your account. If you did not receive this information or if you need assistance, please email [email protected] and someone will assist you.
The survey closes Friday, July 23, 2021, at 11:59 p.m. Selections cannot be changed once the survey closes.
Thank you for your attention to this important matter and your patience as we finalized details for the upcoming school year.